Something odd happened this morning.
Remember my post a few days back about the hell known as 400m intervals? Today I found an exception to that hell.
Today’s workout agenda: 2 sets of 3x 400m intervals.
First set went exactly as I expected them to.
Five minutes walking rest.
Next set begins.
I finish a 400 and tell myself, “Only two more. Only two more and you will be done with this hell for the week and then only a few more sets before race day*.”
Heart rate drops to 110bpm and off I go. Only one more after this. Only one more after this. Only one more after this.
Finish the 400m and the trainer that lives in the phone strapped to my arm tells me, “Five minute cool down.”
I was so focused on running these damn thing I had lost count during the second set! I was done! Free! Ready for one more that I didn’t have to do! Exclamations!!!
The focus of the 400m sprint is one of the best things in the world about this hellish training. Most humans cannot go full throttle for that entire distance. To do an effective 400m you have to train yourself to hold back just that tiny little bit from the edge. To learn that focus in running helps you to learn that level of focus in other things. You can’t give 100% all the time without risking a major blowout. If you can learn to give 95% repeatedly, the long term results will astound.
And my big bottle of training fuel arrived. Use directly after a major workout for quick recovery. The strawberry tastes less awful.
* That theoretical race I have yet to sign up for and keep telling myself I am not training for while quite explicitly doing everything one does to train for a half-marathon.
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